RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Police raided an apartment linked to an alleged Al Qaeda plot to attack Mecca (search), arresting three women and confiscating weapons and gold, according to media reports Saturday.
The apartment in Mecca, Islam's holiest city, was leased to one of 12 men arrested earlier this month in the alleged plot.
Saudi security officials believe the Mecca plot was linked to the May 12 suicide bombings — blamed on the Al Qaeda (search) terror group — of Western residential compounds in the capital, Riyadh (search), which killed 35 people, including nine Americans and nine Saudi attackers.
The women arrested Friday were in the apartment with two children. Police also found three automatic rifles, a pistol, ammunition, two grenades, and a bag full of gold and money, the newspaper al-Watan reported.
Another newspaper, Okaz, said four Saudi women were arrested; the reason for the discrepancy was not immediately known. The reports did not say if the women were accused of any crime.
Officials would not comment on the reports.
Previously, officials have said police were looking for about 10 more suspects connected with the plot against Mecca, 450 miles west of the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
There have been reports of several arrests in and around Mecca since the June 15 arrests in the alleged plot, and security has been tight, particularly on roads leading out of the city.
The Interior Ministry has identified the 12 initial suspects as seven Saudis, three Chadians, one Egyptian and another whose nationality was not given.
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